Professor Deborah Padgett Appointed to National Alliance to End Homelessness' Research Council

Deborah K. Padgett, a professor of social work and global public health and a McSilver faculty fellow, has been appointed to the Research Council of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The council comprises the nation’s leading experts in the fields of homelessness and housing, and was formed to strengthen the connections between homeless policy and research, develop and explore new research avenues, and identify potential gaps in service and knowledge.

Padgett’s work has focused on homeless adults with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders; service use and barriers to care; community-based models; and qualitative and mixed methods of research. She has achieved national renown for her advocacy work and use of qualitative and mixed methods in research, and her expertise in qualitative methods has led to invitations to speak at NIH-sponsored training institutes around the world.

She is the principal investigator of the New York Recovery Study, funded by a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The study uses ethnographic methods and detailed interviews to explore the impact of housing in mental health recovery among adults who have experienced homelessness. She is also pursuing a project on street epidemiology of homeless mentally ill adults in Delhi, India.

Padgett has authored numerous publications on the mental health needs and service use patterns among homeless mentally ill adults, older women, ethnic groups, and children/adolescents. Her most recent book, Qualitative and Mixed Methods in Public Health, was published in 2012.

As the newest appointee to the Research Committee, Padgett joins an esteemed group of researchers and academics dedicated to using research methodology to foment policy change in the complex and demanding field of homelessness.